Overview
Grace Lau has a diverse professional background, having worked as an investigative and forensic accountant in both Canada and Asia for more than 25 years, and she served as an auditor in Canada for 4 years. Her experience includes assisting with fraud investigations for various entities such as public and private companies, unions, municipal governments and government agencies. Additionally, she provided litigation support for cases involving auditor/CA performance, fund tracing, arbitration matters, contract disputes, and the execution of Anton Piller Orders.
Grace has been actively involved in numerous investigative and consulting assignments and she has offered valuable recommendations to clients regarding fraud prevention and internal control measures.
Project Experience
- Conducted numerous eligibility assessments of applications for casino and cannabis operators on behalf of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario;
- Performed numerous compliance audits of election campaign finances in municipal government elections in Ontario;
- Assisted investigations in financial matters of a family business that operated across Canada in relation to a shareholder dispute / arbitration matter;
- Conducted an investigation and prepared a report quantifying the amount of payroll fraud ($450,000) perpetuated by a payroll administrator of a national service company in relation to an application of Mareva Injunction / litigation;
- Conducted numerous fraud investigations and operational reviews on behalf of municipalities and government agencies, including a review of conditional permit issuance procedures and investigation of staff’s wrongdoing allegations; investigation of manipulation of funds by a manager of a business improvement area in Toronto; investigation of missing cash and performed a review of the municipal’s transit cash system; and review of accounts payable system to strengthen internal controls on changing vendor banking information;
- Investigated on media and other corruption allegations of the executive board members of a local union; Reviewed internal controls of the union and recommended changes for improvement; and performed litigation support work to assist counsel in defending trusteeship of the union;
- Involved in assessing professional performance of auditors who were alleged for negligence in relation to material misstated financial statements due to collusive management fraud in a public media company and an entertainment company;
- Assisted in the investigations of hidden income and/or recording of personal expenses as business purposes in relation to several matrimonial disputes;
- Involved in an investigation and tracing the proceeds of crime (US$120 million) arising from drug dealings in Hong Kong, the United States and Australia;
- Involved in executions of Anton Piller Orders.